Wednesday, November 21, 2012

THE THREAT OF JIHADI TERRORISM CONTINUES

B.RAMAN

( Written at the request of the Editor, Economic
Times)

Public satisfaction over the execution of Ajmal
Kasab, the Pakistani terrorist belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), in a
Pune jail on the morning of November 21,2012, should not make us forget that no
action has been taken so far by the State of Pakistan againstthe master-minds of the 26/11 terrorist
strikes in Mumbai.

2. Seven of them have supposedly been arrested and
are being tried before a special court in Rawalpindi, but their trial is being
frequently adjourned. No action has been taken by the Pakistani State against
the LET, the terrorist organisation associated with the Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, which planned and carried out the terrorist
strikes.

3. Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed, the Amir of the LET and
its political wing called the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, who was the principal conspirator
of the terrorist strikes in Mumbai, is still a free man and his anti-India
terrorist infrastructure remains unimpaired.The officers of the ISI, who played a role in
helping the LET in the planning and execution of the terrorist strikes, have
escaped any consequences of their involvement.

4.The execution of Kasab has brought to a closure
theinvolvement of oneindividual in the terrorist strikes. There is
no closure as yet relating to the entire conspiracy and the State and the
non-State actors and their organisations involved in it. Unless they are
brought to final justice, the Government cannot claim success in its efforts to
ensure that the law takes its course in the conspiracy.

5. We were a soft State before 26/11 and we
continue to be a soft State after 26/11 and the execution of Kasab. The failure
of the Indian public and voters to exercise adequate pressure on our Government
to act effectively against the sponsorship of terrorism by Pakistan against our
citizens in our territory is responsible for the continuing softness of our
State in dealing with Pakistani sponsorship of terrorism.

6. Now that Kasab has been executed, efforts will
be made to draw electoral mileage out of it during the next election by
projecting it as an indicator of the Government’s determination to deal with
Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. The voters should not let themselves be misled by
the Government claims and insist on more substantial results.

7. Kasab is no more, but the jihadi terrorist
threat posed by the State of Pakistan and its non-State creations remain as
serious as before. We need a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy to deal
this. We do not see any signs of it so far. It must be made clear to our
Government that it will be held accountable for its sins of commission and
omission if it does not take its actions to their logical conclusion against
the Pakistani perpetrators operating from Pakistani territory.

8. We should not be under any illusion that the
execution of Kasab would have any deterrent effect on the jihadi terrorists
operating from Pakistani territory and their State sponsors. Deaths will not
deter them from carrying on their irrational jihad. Only the neutralisation of
their ground capability once and for all will bring us respite. How to
neutralise their capability and infrastructure is a question that should engage
our continuous attention.

9. There will be attempts to avenge the execution
of Kasab. We should be prepared for retaliatory strikes in India, including
Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other foreign countries. Our
ability to prevent retaliatory attacks would depend on the capabilities of our
intelligence and physical security agencies.

10. Much has been done to strengthen their
capabilities and reflexes after 26/11. There will be a need for a review of
these capabilities in the wake of the execution of Kasab in order to identify
continuing deficiencies and take action to fill them.

11. Terrorist strikes in Pune, Mumbai and Delhi
after 26/11 and their unsatisfactory investigation have underlined the
deficiencies. We still have undetected sleeper cells in these places and
elsewhere constituted by the Indian Mujahideen. Since we have not been able to
arrest and interrogate all of them, we do not have a clear idea of the
continuing Pakistani involvement with the remnants of the IM. These remnants
are likely to play an active role in retaliatory action sought to be
mountedby the LET with the complicity
of the IM.

12. If the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC)
had been set up in time and had it started functioning as it was supposed to,
we might have been in a better position to detect and neutralise preparations
for retaliatory action. The exercise to set up the NCTC has come to a halt due
to political mishandling. This exercise needs to be resumed and completed
vigorously.

1 comment:

Sir, Totally agree with your views. When I first heard the news of Kasab execution, the feeling was not same when I heard about Osama's death. Though these are two different situation, one was the mastermind, a symbol of global terror, while other was just a captured foot soldier.

Somehow, kasab execution was long due and cannot be seen as a victory. We were and remain a soft state, always prone to attack, Unless strong a person with strong political will takes over as PM, which can only be done if the voter are well informed.